Two battles for Jackson, Mississippi

[TinCan]

Jackson, the capitol city of Mississippi, may have suffered more physical damage during the Civil War than any other town in the state. Not once, but twice, on 14 May 1863, and again on 10-17 July 1863, Jackson was attacked, taken, and burned, earning for itself the nickname of "Chimneyville".
The Battle of Jackson ( 14 May 1863) was a part of General Grant's campaign to take the important Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Several attempts by Grant's forces and the Union Navy had failed to do this so a new strategy was needed.
Grant marched his army down the Louisiana side of the river and crossed over into Mississippi at Bruinsburg. Advancing east to Port Gibson, then north east to Raymond he brought these areas under his control by 13 May 1863. His next objective would be Jackson. To seize it would isolate Vicksburg from the east and deal a blow to Confederate morale.
On 12 May, Grant issued orders to his two corps commanders, Major General James B. McPherson, commanding the XVII Corps at Raymond, to move his force to Clinton, Mississippi, then pivot to the east and approach Jackson via the Clinton-Jackson Road. General Sherman's XV Corps was to march thru Raymond to Mississippi Springs which was some 5 miles east of Raymond. The next day Sherman was to move via the Mississippi Springs Road which would bring him to Jackson from the southwest. McPherson and Sherman were in position by the night of the 14th and Grant had some 24,000 men before Jackson.
On the night of 13 May, General Joseph E. Johnston, Commander of the Department of Tennessee and Mississippi, arrived in Jackson. He had been sent by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to personally coordinate the efforts to defeat General Grant, and as such was General Pemberton's immediate superior.
Bad news followed soon after Johnston's arrival. He was told there were only 6,000 troops to defend the city and McPherson's force had already been spotted advancing on Jackson from the east. As of yet Johnston was still unaware of Sherman's forces closing in from the southwest. Even with this incomplete information Johnston decided that Jackson must be evacuated as quickly as possible. To allow time for a safe withdrawal, Johnston ordered Brigadier General John Gregg to remain behind and fight a delaying action that would slow the Union advance.
Gregg marched his force of 900 men out of Jackson and placed them in line of battle at the O.P. Wright farm, 3 miles northwest of the city on the Clinton-Jackson Road. Gregg was also unaware that Sherman was approaching from the southwest at the time he deployed his force.
By 10:00 am McPherson's Corps had reached the Wright farm and deployed into line of battle ready to begin the attack. A heavy rainstorm delayed the attack for an hour , but when the order was given the Union soldiers rushed upon the Confederate works. The fighting was intense and hand to hand. Gregg's men refused to give ground until they were overwhelmed by sheer mass of numbers and were forced to retreat back into the works surrounding Jackson.
As the battle at the Wright farm continued, another battle was about to start on the southwest outskirts of the city.
Sherman's XV Corps, some16,000 men, approached Jackson from the southwest with Brigadier General James M. Tuttle's division in the lead. Tuttle had Brigadier General James A. Mower's brigade in the lead, followed by the 2nd Iowa Battery, and Battery E, 1st Illinois Light Artillery, Brigadier General Charles L. Matthies brigade was next, and Brigadier General Ralph P. Buckland's brigade brought up the rear.

 

[TinCan]

PART II.

Following the Raymond Road, Sherman's men arrived at Lynch Creek around 11am to find the creek swollen by recent rains and the bridge over the creek the only way to cross. On the north side of the creek stood a force of Confederate infantry and artillery opposed to that happening.
The news that Sherman was approaching from the southwest came as a shock to General Gregg and he had to throw together a force to rush to Lynch Creek to try and delay the advance. For this task he ordered Colonel Albert P. Thompson and his 3rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry, along with the 1st Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion and 4 guns from Martin's Georgia Battery to rush to the Creek and delay as long as they could. Thompson had less than a 1,000 men to oppose a whole Union Corps.
No sooner had Thompson got his little force into line of battle than the first Union soldiers came into view. Martin's 4 guns opened on the Union column filling the air with hot metal. Sherman, upon hearing the firing, ordered an immediate attack on the Confederate position. General Tuttle placed the 6 guns of the 2nd Iowa on the right side of the Raymond Road, and the 6 guns of the 1st Illinois on the left and they began to pound Martin's which was quickly overwhelmed.
Realizing he could no longer hold his position Thompson ordered his men to fall back to the woods in front of the southwest approaches to the city. His men left the bridge over Lynch Creek intact and General Tuttle hurried to get his men across and followed the retreating Confederates thru the wood. Arriving on the other side of the wood Tuttle was greeted by open fields across from which were the defenses of Jackson studded with cannon. The Southern artillery opened on Tuttle's men and he halted them in the shelter of the wood to figure out his next move.
While this was going on, General Gregg received word that the evacuation of troops and supplies from Jackson was successful and he was ordered to pull his men out but left a few Mississippi militia and civilian volunteers behind to man the heavy guns.
General Sherman ordered a probe of the Confederate works and finding them mostly undefended, moved thru a gap and quickly routed or captured the remaining defenders. The Union Army stormed into Jackson and the US flag was raised over the capitol building.

 

[TinCan]

PART III.

After the fall of Jackson Grant pushed his army west to the grand prize of Vicksburg. He met General Pemberton's forces at Champion Hill on 16 May 1863 and soundly defeated them. The Confederates retreated back to Vicksburg and Grant again caught them at Big Black River Bridge and defeated them again. Pemberton moved into Vicksburg and Grant started his 47 day siege that ended with the cities fall and Pemberton's surrender on 3 July 1863.
Almost as soon as Grant left Jackson, Johnston reentered and began to assemble an army to go to Pemberton's relief. By 3 June 1863 Johnston has amassed some 31,000 men and 72 cannon for his Army of Relief. Grant, keeping a watchful eye on this threat to his rear, had General Sherman assemble an "Army of Observation" to protect the Army of the Tennessee from any move by Johnston against it. The Army of Observation had some 30,000 men and 72 cannon.
Sherman couldn't wait to go after Johnston and on 4 July 1863 after receiving word from Grant that Pemberton had surrendered the Army of Mississippi, struck out to get Johnston. The Army of Observation now swelled by re-enforcements to some 50,000 men, moved out that day.
Johnston reached the Big Black River on 2-3 July and set about finding a place to cross. Finding out Sherman waited on the west side of the river and that Pemberton had given up Vicksburg, Johnston immediately began a retreat back toward Jackson. He reached the city on the evening of 7 July and the next day set his men to improving his defenses in the hope of getting Sherman to attack him behind them. Sherman reached Jackson on 10 July and immediately saw Johnston's positions too strong to assault. Sherman placed the divisions of Brigadier Generals Alvin P. Hovey and Jacob G. Lauman near Lynch Creek.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

Thanks, LT. Can; these have been most interesting!

 

[TinCan]

PART IV.

Hovey's division was some 3,600 men strong, while Lauman's numbered 6,000. The two divisions arrived at Jackson on 10 July after marching down the Robinson Road. They then turned southeast and marched cross country til they hit the Raymond Road. General Hovey deployed his division with his left on the Raymond Road and his right on the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern railroad. Setting his division in motion they advanced up to Lynch Creek where they were fired upon by the 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles of General French's division. Hovey called up 2 guns from the 16th Ohio battery which began shelling the 1st Arkansas forcing it to retire. Hovey's men crossed Lynch Creek without further incident and as it was getting dark a halt was called.
The next morning Sherman's artillery opened a barrage on the Confederate works and the city itself. When the barrage ended Major General Edward O.C. Ord ordered Hovey forward and Hovey sent word of this to Lauman and started forward. General Lauman was moving his division as well to take up a position on Hovey's right. On Bailey's Hill General Lauman placed his division in position to bring his men into line with Hovey's division. He placed Colonel Isaac C. Pugh's brigade in the forefront with Colonel George E. Bryant's brigade in behind, in reserve. Pugh's brigade consisted of the 53rd Illinois Infantry, 3rd Iowa Infantry, 41st Illinois Infantry, and 28th Illinois Infantry. Lauman gave the order to advance, and with Pugh's men leading the way they marched down Bailey's Hill toward Lynch Creek. Pugh's men waded Lynch Creek and came into line with Hovey's on the other side. Pugh called a halt as his men had reached their assigned position and he had a bad feeling about the ground in front of him.
While the men were halted the 5th Ohio Battery brought up 6 guns and began to hammer away at the Confederate works. The rebels responded and a lively artillery duel commenced for about 25 minutes. As soon as the fire ended Lauman ordered a continuation of the advance. Pugh's men moved thru a cornfield and a narrow stretch of woods but A halt was called on the far side of the woods. The woods gave way to a cleared field where trees had been cut down and their branches fashioned into abatis. Behind this barrier were the Confederate works guarding the southwest approaches to Jackson.
While Lauman's men were moving forward, Hovey's men were engaging in a lively firefight with skirmisheres positioned out in front of the rebel works. This skirmish quickly turned into more of a battle than a skirmish and Hovey's men were forced to dig in to escape the intense fire. Lauman decided to advance thru the abatis in front of the positions occupied by Brigadier General Daniel Adam's brigade. This portion of the works were held by the 32nd Alabama Infantry, and 19th Louisiana Infantry, supported by 6 guns of the Washington Artillery of Louisiana. As the Union men moved thru the abatis the Washington Artillery open up on them with all the grape and canister they had. The slaughter was overwhelming. The tightly packed Union soldiers were a southern artilleryman's dream. Whole ranks were blasted away as the Washington Artillery continued it's deadly work.
Pugh's men moved to their right in an effort to get away from the withering artillery fire and assault the portion of the works held by Brigadier General Marcellus A. Stovall's brigade. This consisted of the 1st and 3rd Consolidated Florida Infantry, 4th Florida Infantry, 47th Georgia Infantry, and 60th North Carolina Infantry, supported by 4 guns from Cobb's Kentucky Artillery. This move exposed the men to a more intense fire and they continued to lose men at an alarming rate.
To try and provide support for his battered infantry Lauman ordered 2 guns brought up from the 5th Ohio Battery but the confederate artillery put them out of action before either could fire a shot. The fight was soon over and Pugh's brigade was decimated in about an hour. Lauman was sent back to Vicksburg, never to command troops again. Fearing that the Yankees would cross the Pearl River and cut off his means of retreat, Johnston decided to withdraw from Jackson on 16 July. Sherman entered Jackson the next morning.

 

[ole]

Heard a cute story about one of the invasions of Jackson.

Seems Sherman or Grant or both walked into a factory (mill) and announced that all the personnel should go home because they intended to burn it.

 

[TimJeffers]

...The two divisions arrived at Jackson on 10 July ....
...The next morning Sherman's artillery opened a barrage on the Confederate works and the city itself. When the barrage ended Major General Edward O.C. Ord ordered Hovey forward and Hovey sent word of this to Lauman and started forward. General Lauman was moving his division as well to take up a position on Hovey's right....

I realize this is an old thread, but it leaves the incorrect impression that the pointless sacrifice of Pugh's brigade took place on July 11, when it was July 12, 1863. Many good men gave their lives in that unsupported charge.

Tim

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I realize this is an old thread,

I'm gald you bumped the thread.

As a native Jacksonian, I've this had thread . . . along with many others . . . bookmarked for a few years.

 

[TimJeffers]

My gg Uncle was killed in that charge, as were the handsome Ruckman brothers (Capt John & his Lt Joseph):
(photos from findagrave memorials 20064707 & 20064637)

Tim

 

[Coonewah Creek]

While this was going on, General Gregg received word that the evacuation of troops and supplies from Jackson was successful and he was ordered to pull his men out but left a few Mississippi militia and civilian volunteers behind to man the heavy guns.
General Sherman ordered a probe of the Confederate works and finding them mostly undefended, moved thru a gap and quickly routed or captured the remaining defenders. The Union Army stormed into Jackson and the US flag was raised over the capitol building.

I think this was one of Johnston's biggest mistakes during the campaign. By making the conscious decision to abandon Jackson, essentially without a fight, Johnston threw away his strategic advantage. Reinforcements now had to abandon their cars well outside the city and march significant distances to link up with Confederate relief forces. Had the Confederate theater commander himself made a bold decision to defend Jackson's fortifications and prolong the fight for control of the city, Johnston would have had at least 10,000 men in the trenches by late afternoon on May 14th, opposed by perhaps 23,000 Federals within striking distance. With the advantage of the entrenched defense, stiffened by substantial artillery, the odds would not be considered very favorable for a guarantee of Federal success in an assault. By holding out, additional Confederate reinforcements would have been streaming into Jackson over the next few days.

References:

O.R., vol. 24, pt. 3, pp. 881, 883-884; Arnold, Grant Wins the War, pp. 140-141; Bearss, The Campaign for Vicksburg, vol. 2, p. 554.

Ibid., Ector's and McNair's veteran troops (about 3,000) would be expected to arrive by dusk on the 16th. With Pemberton's potential threat of moving to strike Grant's rear while he was trying to deal with Johnston to his front at Jackson, the Federal army could have found itself in a dangerous situation had the Confederate commanders acted more boldly. Had Pemberton carried his entire force with him out of Vicksburg, he would have had about 30,000 men instead of only 23,000. With Johnston's 10,000-15,000 troops at Jackson, the total Confederate forces would at least have had numerical parity with Grant, who was now operating in enemy territory without a secured line of communication back to his supply base.

 

[2nd Alabama Cavalry]

Do not forget that Jackson was also defended, by a portion of Maj. General Stephen D. Lee`s Cavalry Corps, during Sherman`s "Meridian Expedition" from 5-6 Feb 1864 as Maj. General`s French and Loring were retreating with the Confederate infantry and artillery back towards Morton, Ms. to make a stand there against Sherman`s Army a few days later. But then by 8:30 pm on the night of 8 Feb 1864 Polk, Loring and French decided to continue their general retreat back to Meridian after becoming concerned that they would be out-flanked by Sherman`s Army at Morton. This left the 3,500 Cavalry Troopers of S. D. Lee alone to oppose Sherman`s 23,500 man army the whole distance back to Meridian. During this campaign S. D. Lee`s cavalry corps was comprised primarily of the cavalry division of Brig. General William Hicks Jackson, and the cavalry brigades of, Brig. General`s Samuel Wragg Ferguson, William Wirt Adams, and Colonel`s Robert O. Perrin and Peter B. Starke, with Brig. General Lawrence Sullivan Ross primarily operating up in Yazoo.

Below is based on some of my research regarding my 3rd Great Grandfather who served with the 2nd Alabama Cavalry Regiment, in Brig. General Samuel Wragg Ferguson`s Cavalry Brigade and fought this campaign from the Big Black River to Meridian, to include the fighting at Clinton and Jackson from 4-6 Feb 1864.

Friday, February 5, 1864:

On the morning of 5 Feb 1864 Brig. General S. W. Ferguson and his Cavalry Brigade was ordered from Clinton and directed to spread out his Brigade and cover the Canton and Madison Station roads (Old Agency), fighting when necessary, by the road back to Clinton, he would have been in the direct path of Hurlbut and Sherman with the XVI U. S. Army Corps on the Bridgeport road marching from west to east and Col. Winslow from the south (Raymond - Clinton Road) marching north with whom he had fought against on the previous day. He was positioned here specifically to cover the rear and Screen Loring`s Command who were then moving from Canton to Madison Station from the Yankees. He stated that the enemy did not press him farther along those roads than the range of their Cannon, placed at the outskirt of Clinton (north-west of town). He remained all day in line of battle about 2 miles north of Clinton in sight of the enemy until about sunset when he withdrew his command some 8 miles farther and went into camp along these roads north of Clinton.

Col. Edward Winslow, Sherman`s Advance, specifically with the 4th Iowa Cavalry and the 10th Missouri Cavalry, who came in from the Robinson road, took Jackson by force with the assistance of some horse artillery who were firing up Capitol Street hitting the State House at least once (that inflicted minor damage which was later repaired). This forced the Rebels (Brig. General`s Jackson, Adams and Col. Peter B. Starke`s forces) to evacuate north up State Street onto the Canton road and French who had evacuated across the Pearl River just hours before headed for Brandon. At 1 pm Winslow sent a wire to Sherman still at Clinton when he received this news telling him that Jackson and the Bridge across the Pearl River were both in possession of the Federal Cavalry. Sherman responded by sending Infantry to help hold the town.

About sunset Brig. General S. W. Ferguson withdrew his command who were with-in sight of Sherman a couple of miles north of Clinton farther north along the Madison Station road by another 8 miles and then briefly went into camp with his command to give them a much needed rest (10 miles north of Clinton and about 8 miles south-west of Madison Station). Maj. General William Wing Loring had left Canton earlier in the day for Madison Station and by late afternoon he had crossed two of his Brigades across the Pearl River at Grant`s Ferry (which is now part of the Ross Barnett Reservoir and the Fannin Landing Circle may have been the location of Grant`s Ferry which is just a couple of miles from Fannin) and early on the following day of 6 Feb 1864, he crossed the rest of his command there. They took the Fannin road towards Morton, camping at Melton`s Place on the night of 6 Feb 1864 which was 14 miles north-west of Morton. They arrived from the North-west of the town and then went on to the Fortifications and earthworks along the Ridgeline on Tank Hill where they dug themselves in as they formed their battle lines. French and his command arrived a little later to Morton along the Wire Road south-west of Morton.

In the March 14, 1864 Article published in the Chicago Tribune; Jackson, Ms. on this day of the March was described as:

"a sorry looking place, all the public buildings having been destroyed except the State House and City Hall. Besides the public buildings nearly all the stores and many private dwellings have been burned. Most of it was done during the occupation of the city by our forces a year ago (Grant`s Army in May 1863 and Sherman`s Army in Jul 1863)".

By this article, which was written by a Journalist embedded with Sherman, it is clear that Sherman went right through Clinton and then south through the center of Jackson by the Capitol to have seen the condition of the State House and the Capitol which was severely damaged in 1863 after the battles of Port Gibson, Raymond and then Jackson, associated with Grierson`s Raid from La Grange to Baton Rouge which allowed Grant to cross his Army over the Mississippi at Bruinsburg Landing on 30 Apr 1863.

Saturday, February 6, 1864:

As soon as it was ascertained that Sherman was crossing the Pearl River, Generals Adams, Jackson and Ferguson along with Col. Starke were crossed over the Pearl (swam their horses across). Ferguson placed his forces in front of the enemy to slow them, while Jackson, Adams and Starke were ordered to move on his flank at Brandon and Pelahatchie Stations and to stay close to or south of the rail-road in case Sherman turned south for Mobile. At the same time Col. Lawrence Sullivan Ross (6th Texas Cavalry) was ordered from Yazoo to assist Maj. General S. D. Lee with the fighting.

Some of Sherman`s army may have crossed the Pearl River on W. B. Wards Ferry below Tugaloo Station, due east of Clinton and a couple of miles or so north-east of Jackson. More than likely they crossed at Carson`s Ferry behind the State House. The closest Ferries to Jackson operating along the Pearl River Carson`s Ferry right behind the State House (Fairgrounds now) and W. B. Wards Ferry (just north of Jackson), then north of that was Cullum`s Ferry due east of Calhoun Station, north of that was Smith`s Ferry just north-east of Madisonville and south-east of Canton, and then Ratliff`s Ferry north-east of Canton.

Brig. General S. W. Ferguson, Col. Peter Burwell Starke (28th Mississippi Cavalry) and Brig. General William Wirt Adams and their Cavalry Brigades were reported to have swam their horses across the Pearl River at Smith`s Ferry south-east of Canton and due south of Madisonville as they were engaged throughout the day. Brig. General Ferguson had previously destroyed the bridge (Confederate) going across the Pearl River at Jackson to impede General Sherman`s Army from crossing.

Towards the end of the day Maj. General S. D. Lee pulled his Cavalry Brigades; Ferguson, Starke, Perrin, Adams and Jackson, from the vicinity around Tugaloo Station back to Madison Station and Calhoun Station to allow Maj. General Sherman`s Army to pass through and cross the Pearl River on their way to Brandon. As he did this Maj. General Loring had already moved his Infantry from Madison Station to Madisonville preparing them to cross the Pearl River as they were en-route to Morton. By late afternoon Maj. General Samuel G. French was in Brandon. Maj. General William Wing Loring had already crossed the Pearl River and had marched with-in 11 miles north-west of Morton. Maj. General French was positioned at Brandon Station awaiting orders.

Col. Edward F. Winslow moved to get in front of Sherman`s Army just south-west of Tugaloo while Maj. General James B. McPherson was the first to reach the Pearl River with Maj. General Hurlbut at his rear. They would make preparations with the U.S. Engineer Corps with Capt. Hickenlooper to get across the Pearl River early the next morning on Pontoon bridges on the 7th and head towards Brandon. They spent the greater portion of the 6th constructing a pontoon bridge to cross the Pearl, which they managed to cross some on the 6th and the rest the next morning on the 7th of February.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Do not forget that Jackson was also defended, by a portion of Maj. General Stephen D. Lee`s Cavalry Corps, during Sherman`s "Meridian Expedition" from 5-6 Feb 1864 as Maj. General`s French and Loring were retreating with the Confederate infantry and artillery back towards Morton, Ms. to make a stand there against Sherman`s Army a few days later.

Your're absolutely correct !

I couldn't have said it better.

 

[2nd Alabama Cavalry]

Your're absolutely correct !

I couldn't have said it better.

This may interest you 7th Mississippi Infantry. As I stated in my response above there was a journalist / Correspondent from the Chicago Tribune embedded with Sherman`s Army during his "Meridian Campaign" and after the Campaign was brought to a close he headed back to Chicago and wrote the article below which was published on 14 Mar 1864 regarding his perspective as an eye witness of the entire campaign. He wrote the piece calling the Campaign; "The Great Mississippi Expedition" and considered it an occupation of Jackson, Brandon, Meridian and Canton. The piece is very informative and really aided a great deal into my own research. Perhaps it will help you in the same way.

Not sure that you can read it, perhaps you can save it to your hard drive and then enlarge it.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Perhaps it will help you in the same way.

It already has . . .

Thank you.

I appreciate those articles !

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Old thread I understand ... but again, I've always been interested WBTS events in my hometown.

So with that said .... IMO the May 14th engagement was more of a major "skirmish" than a true battle.

Of the three popular "battles of Jackson" (There were actually five ).
My vote would go the second encounter, as a battle.
Only few days after Grant had secured Vicksburg.

A great synopsis along with a book review at this site:

Woodrick’s “The Civil War Siege of Jackson”: A Review – Mississippi Sideboard

In the Memorial Hall Foundation Museum in New Orleans sits a chunky Chickering “square” parlor piano manufactured in Boston in the 1840s. The piano, the former proud possession of the Cooper family of Jackson, Mississippi, once helped to shore up a Civil War redoubt facing south along the...

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